Warming container for wipes

ABSTRACT

A container for supplying warm wipes having a compartment for holding a plurality of wipes and at least one pocket for holding a chemical heat pack. The pocket has a first surface in thermal contact with the compartment holding the wipes and a second surface having at least one opening in direct contact with the atmospheric air. The opening is of sufficient size to permit atmospheric air to circulate to the chemical heat pack in the pocket and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat pack and warm the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket first surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a container used to store, warm toabove ambient temperatures and dispense moistened sheets of paper orcloth disposable wipes for personal use.

2. Description of Related Art

With a typical moistened wipe in a prepackaged container, the wipeusually contains a solution which has some evaporative qualities andupon contact with the air outside the container, the wipe willimmediately and continually tend to drop in temperature until itcontacts the skin. Upon contact with the skin, the wipe creates a coolsensation on the skin both from transfer of heat from the skin to thewipe and from the evaporation of the solution from the skin once thewipe has transferred a quantity of the solution onto the skin. This isof more particular concern when the situation involves using a wipe onan infant. The surprise of the cooler sensation often times is evidentfrom various reactions of the infant. Some caretakers have found it lessstressful on the infant by first applying the wipe to their own skin inorder to increase the temperature of the wipe, but this can be both acontamination source and a consumption of time in a process in whichboth the caretaker and infant would prefer to minimize.

There have been several attempts to address this problem, for example inU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,705, 5,004,894, 5,738,082, and 7,022,945. Evenwhere such prior art employs a chemical heat source, there have beendeficiencies in performance and heating of wipes using the disclosedcontainers. They in general have not been economical or simple to use,and do not provide optimum performance from the chemical heat source.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it istherefore an object of the present invention to provide a container forsupplying warm disposable wipes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container forsupplying warm wipes which employs a more effective method and systemfor activating the heat source therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container forsupplying warm wipes which allows air to properly circulate within itschemical heat source and keep the chemical heat source separate from thewipes to be dispensed.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide aconvenient container for supplying warm disposable wipes wherein thecontainer initially heats the first wipes to be dispensed byincorporating the heat source in more accessible parts of the container.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The above and other objects, which will be apparent to those skilled inthe art, are achieved in the present invention which is directed to anapparatus for supplying warm wipes comprising a container having acompartment therein for holding a plurality of wipes and at least onepocket for holding a chemical heat pack therein. The pocket has a firstsurface in thermal contact with the compartment holding the wipes and asecond surface having at least one opening therein in direct contactwith the atmospheric air. The opening is of sufficient size to permitatmospheric air to circulate to the chemical heat pack in the pocket andcause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat packand warm the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket firstsurface. The pocket may be disposed on either the interior or exteriorof a side, bottom or top of the container with a wall between the pocketand the container compartment.

The pocket may additionally include a slideable tray supported formovement into and out of the container so that the chemical heat packmay be placed in the tray when in the open position and be positionedinside the pocket after sliding the tray into its closed position. Thecompartment for the wipes may alternately be detachably connected to theportion of the apparatus containing the pocket for the chemical heatpack.

The pocket opening may be covered with a removable tab for initiallysealing the chemical heat pack in an airtight pocket, the tab beingremovable from the opening to commence the exothermic reaction of thechemical heat pack.

The container may be a soft, resilient package with the pocket beingsecured to the top or bottom surface of the soft container. The soft,resilient package may alternately have a lid on the top surface with thepocket for the chemical heat pack being in the lid.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method ofsupplying warm wipes. The method comprises providing a container havinga compartment therein for holding a plurality of wipes and at least onepocket for holding a chemical heat pack therein. The pocket has a firstsurface in thermal contact with the compartment holding the wipes and asecond surface having at least one opening therein in direct contactwith the atmospheric air. The opening is of sufficient size to permitatmospheric air to circulate to the chemical heat pack in the pocket andcause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat packand warm the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket firstsurface. The pocket may be disposed on either the interior or exteriorof a side, bottom or top of the container with a wall between the pocketand the container compartment. The method includes providing wipesinside the container compartment, providing a chemical heat pack insidethe pocket, and exposing the chemical heat pack to atmospheric airthrough the opening to permit the atmospheric air to circulate to thechemical heat pack and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur withinthe chemical heat pack, thereby warming the wipes by transmitting heatthrough the pocket first surface into the compartment for the wipes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel and the elementscharacteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in theappended claims. The figures are for illustration purposes only and arenot drawn to scale. The invention itself however both as to organizationand method of operation, may best be understood by reference to thedetailed description which follows taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the container for warmingdisposable wipes in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a right side elevational view of the container shown in FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the container shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a temperature indicator used with thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the warming wipescontainer in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the container shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the container shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the warmingwipes container in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of still a further embodiment of thewarming wipes container in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of a soft pack embodiment of the warmingwipes container in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the container shown in FIG. 11

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of another soft pack embodiment of thewarming wipes container in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a front elevational view of the container shown in FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

In describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention,reference will be made herein to FIGS. 1-14 of the drawings in whichlike numerals refer to like features of the invention.

FIGS. 1-4 show a first embodiment of the present invention whichcomprises a container 12 having six approximately rectangular sides in abox-like configuration to provide a compartment for holding a stack ofmoist wipes. The container is preferably constructed of a hard butresilient molded polymer and contains wipes 14 in an interior portion.The container has top surface 16 having a lid 26 thereon, a bottomsurface 18 opposite the top surface, a front surface 20 connected alongits top and bottom edges to the top surface and the bottom surface,respectively, a rear surface 22 opposite the front surface, and two sidesurfaces 24 on opposite ends of the container. The top and bottomsurfaces are preferably sized slightly larger than wipes 14 to permiteasy insertion to and removal from container 12. Lid 26 has asubstantially straight edge molded in with the top surface 16 creatingan integral hinge 28, with the remaining free edge portion beingsubstantially semicircular in shape. As an alternate, lid 26 may have apermanent flexible hinge adhesively attached to the lid edge and the topsurface 16. The lid may have any other desired configuration. The curvedportion of the edge of the lid is removably sealed with the top surfaceby a lid tab 32 located along portion of the curved edge tangent withthe straight edge detachably fastening with a corresponding protrudingslot 34 on the front surface 20. Wipes 14 stored within container 12 arereadily accessible through lid 26. Such wipes may be wet, disposablepersonal wipes as described above, or any other type of wipes that forwhich heating is desired.

In order to provide heat to the wipes in the container, one or morepockets are provided in or on the container with walls that are alongthe exterior of the container for one or more chemical heat packs, forexample dry heat oxidation packs. Such dry heat oxidation packs are wellknown for warming a user's hands or feet in cold weather, and typicallyemploy a composition that undergoes an exothermic reaction when exposedto oxygen in atmospheric air. The pack may be one of severalcommercially available heat packs, for example, containing iron powder,salt, water, activated carbon, and vermiculite. An exterior pocket 30 isshown disposed on the outer surface of the container 12 in thermalcontact with the container interior through side surface 24. Althoughplastics such as used for the container may be considered to be thermalinsulators, by making the wall relatively thin, a sufficient amount ofheat from the dry heat oxidation pack in the pocket will flow into theinterior of the container holding the wipes. The proper thickness of thewall separating the pocket and container interior may be determinedwithout undue experimentation. An access slit 36 on the upper edge ofthe pocket permits insertion of a dry heat oxidation pack 50 into theinterior of the pocket. Pocket 30 is attached to the outside wall of thecontainer 12 with at least one and preferably a plurality of openings onthe exterior wall of the pocket directly accessing the atmospheresurrounding the container, here shown as substantially circular openings40. These opening permit circulation of atmospheric air to the dry heatoxidation pack 50 in the pocket. The diameter of the openings may bebetween about 0.125 to 1.0 in. (3 to 25 mm), or such other size thatallows for proper air contact to activate and warm the dry heatoxidation pack as it is disposed within the pocket.

The pocket may alternately be an internal pocket 30′ within the sidewall of the container as shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. Inan interior pocket, the access slit for the dry heat oxidation pack 50may be accessible through the opened lid 26 on the top surface 16 or maybe formed directly through top surface 16 near side 24. The openings 40to the container exterior are formed in side surface 24, which itselfforms the outer wall of the pocket, and the interior wall 33′ of pocket30′ provides the thermal contact with the wipes in the containerinterior. While the drawing figures show the pockets 30 and 30′ on theside ends 24 of the container, such pockets may be located on one ormore of the other surfaces of container 12, either as internal orexternal pockets on the front, back, top or bottom surfaces. The numberand placement of such pockets on the container is dependent on need forheat due to factors such as low ambient temperature, a lengthened timethe warmed wipes are needed, or a large number of wipes in thecontainer. While pockets 30 and 30′ are shown sized to hold one dry heatoxidation pack, they may be enlarged to accommodate two or more of suchpacks.

During use of the invention, at least one dry heat oxidation pack 50 isexposed to the atmosphere and activated, optionally by shaking orsqueezing, and placed in at least one of the pockets. The number of dryheat oxidation packs used at one time is a function of the amount ofheat needed for a particular use. As the number of dry heat oxidationpacks which are activated increases, the heating rate of the wipesincreases and the warmer the wipes will become in a specific length oftime. With a greater number of dry heat oxidation packs placed in asingle pocket, a longer the time of heat production is achieved, due tothe fact that as dry heat oxidation packs are stacked on one another,reducing oxygen availability and thereby reducing the rate ofheat-producing oxidation. This will allow the dry heat oxidation packsto generate at a minimal heat rate for a greater period of time.

FIG. 5 shows a temperature indicator 52 which may be attached to orincorporated integral with any of the surfaces of the containercontaining the wipes to allow the user to visually determine thetemperature of the wipes. The temperature indicator 52 may be one ofseveral currently available, such as those used on fish aquariums, thatare substantially flat and have an adhesive backing in thermal contactwith the wall to which it is adhered. The temperature indicator 52 ismounted on the interior of the container with a cutout portion 54 of thecontainer permitting viewing of the temperature indicator and a thintransparent strip 56 on the exterior of the container over the cut outto protect the temperature indicator and provide thermal isolation fromthe atmospheric air.

FIGS. 6-8 depict another embodiment of the present invention which maybe used as a compact version of the embodiment described above, as wellas showing an alternate use of the dry heat oxidation pack 50incorporated into the pocket 30 during manufacturing of the container.Container 12 has an interior compartment created by the walls for thewipe, which compartment is accessible through lid 26 as before. Thewipes have been left out of the interior compartment for purposes ofclarity, although they will typically be provided to the user within thecontainer. The container 12 has external pocket 30 in thermal contactwith bottom surface 18. At least one opening, and preferably multipleopenings 40, are formed in the opposite exterior wall 31 of pocket 30 Aremovable activation tab 44 comprising a strip of adhesive tape on theexterior of the opposite wall initially covers openings 40. In thisembodiment, dry heat oxidation pack 50 is provided in the pocket in anairtight environment prior to purchase by the user. When the userdesires to warm the wipes, the user pulls the activation tab 44 from thepocket exterior wall 31 to remove the tape strip and expose openings 40,thereby allowing atmospheric air to circulate into the pocket andactivating the oxidation process in the dry heat oxidation pack 50.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the present invention in which thecontainer 12′ and the wipes therein (not shown) are detachably connectedto and removable from a warmer 70. Wipes container 12′ has an interiorcompartment for holding the wipes similar to the to previous embodimentexcept that it has no dry heat oxidation pack pockets secured to orintegral with the container walls or surfaces. Container 12′ instead hasa thin bottom surface such that heat generated below the surface may beefficiently transferred therethrough to any wipes in the container andhas on its upper surface a snap cover with a molded hinge connecting thelid to the top surface. The wipes are initially placed in the containerthrough the top lid 16, and the lid is resealed to make the interior ofthe container substantially air tight. Subsequently, container 12containing the wipes is lowered into the open top of warmer 70.

Warmer 70 has a bottom and four rectangular sides 58 which correspond tothe front, back, and side surfaces of the container, and have lateraldimensions minimally larger than those of container 12′ to allow thecontainer to slide down into the warmer 70. The container is lowereduntil the edges of the bottom thereon contact a set of at least tworails 72 permanently attached to or integral with at least two opposinginterior sides 58 of the warmer. The rails located near the lowerportion of the warmer sides 58, and leave sufficient space when thecontainer is disposed thereon for at least one, and preferably aplurality of, dry heat oxidation packs 50 to be positioned below in thepocket formed by the container 12′ bottom and the warmer 70 bottom. Thedry heat oxidation pack may be inserted and removed through a slotopening 86 on one of the sides 58 of the warmer or, alternatively, beplaced in the bottom of the warmer prior to the container being loweredtherein. In the lower portion of the warmer below the rails there is atleast one, and preferably a plurality of, openings 40 on one or moresides 58 of the warmer to allow atmospheric air circulation for theoxidation process of the dry heat oxidation pack. The number and size ofthe openings will depend on the rate of heating needed for warming thewipes. The warmer has clips 88 on the top edge of opposite sides inwhich a carrying strap 90 may be permanently or removably attached. Inthis embodiment, the container for the wipes and the warmer section areseparate, and the warmer section may be reusable and configured to holdwipes containers currently available on the market. The user wouldsimply dispose of the empty wipe container after the wipes are gone, andplace another container of wipes into the warmer.

FIG. 10 shows a reusable embodiment of the present invention whereby adry heat oxidation pack may be activated and placed in a pocket having aslidable tray 74 located in the lower portion of the container 12containing the wipes. A divider 76 separates the tray region in thelower container portion from the upper portion of the container whichcomprises the compartment in which the wipes may be located. Divider 76is preferably a thin sheet of thermally conductive materialsubstantially parallel to and spaced above the bottom surface of thecontainer. The wipes are supported by divider 76, with the dividerallowing the heat generated by dry heat oxidation packs (not shown) ontray 74 to transfer to the upper compartment containing the wipes. Thelid may be similar to that of previous embodiments or, as thealternative shown in FIG. 10, may have a snap top 78 removably sealedwith an oval dispensing opening 80 for access of the wipes. The topsurface may be hinged to the rear surface to allow container access foradditional wipes to be placed inside the container. The rear surface andsides of the container have openings 40 as previously described locatedin the lower tray section of the container to allow atmospheric aircirculation to continue the exothermic chemical reaction in the dry heatoxidation pack.

A disposable embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.Container 12″ is a soft pack made of a flexible plastic or foil upperand lower sides 60 a, 60 b, respectively, forming the compartment withinwhich wipes 14 are held. The container has a stiff plastic lid 82 on theupper side 60 a containing a pocket 30′ on its interior surface forinsertion and removal of a dry heat oxidation pack through a slot on thepocket side. The upper wall of the pocket has multiple openings 40through lid 82, initially sealed with the activation tab 44, forcirculation of atmospheric air once the tab is removed. Pocket 30′ is inthermal contact with the wipes through lower wall 33′ when the lid is inthe closed position. One advantage of this embodiment is that, becauseof the soft side walls 60, container collapses down to the size of thestack of wipes 14 held therein, and the top wipe closest to thedispensing opening is in direct contact with the thermally conductivewall 33′ of the pocket, which permits the quick heating of the wipes tobe used first.

In FIGS. 13 and 14 the soft pack container 12″ is shown, but with pocket30 for the dry heat oxidation pack located on the opposite, bottom side60 b of the container. The dispensing of the wipes from the interiorcompartment may be via a lid on upper side 60 a similar to lid 82 shownin FIGS. 11 and 12 (without the interior pocket and air openings).Alternatively a more economical version may have the dispensing openingcreated by pulling off a section of the upper surface 60 a made withperforations 84 as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.

The dry heat oxidation pack may be made part of the containers andapparatus described herein during manufacturing and be made replaceableor, alternately, may be provided by the user. One commercially availabledry heat organic oxidation pack which may be used is HotHands® producedby Heatmax, Inc. of Dalton, Ga. Where the user provides the dry heatoxidation pack, the package would have its exterior protective packagingremoved to commence the activation of the heat production process. Thedry heat oxidation pack would typically be a package containing thecombination of iron powder, salt, water, activated carbon, andvermiculite. This combination, when exposed to the air, produces anexothermic reaction through oxidation. Typically available heat packsgenerate heat for about 2-8 hours. Since the rate at which heat isproduced is a function of the rate at which oxygen is supplied to thereaction, limiting the amount of air allowed to contact a dry heatoxidation pack would restrict the amount of heat produced.

Although some of the previous embodiments have been described on thebasis that the invention is refillable either with dry heat oxidationpacks made specifically for the invention or with presently availabledry heat oxidation packs, any of the embodiments may be a one-time-usedisposable container of warming wipes that have the wipes and the dryheat oxidation packs built into the container. The warming of the wipesmay be then commenced by pulling out the activation tab covering theopenings of the pockets, or alternately removing a cellophane covering,or snapping a breakable vial within the dry heat oxidation pack to allowthe chemicals to combine and react. If there are more wipes in thecontainer that are typically used in one application, a plurality ofpockets containing the dry heat oxidation packs would allow theinvention to be used several times if less than all of the dry heatoxidation packs are activated in one use.

The wipes also entail several embodiments which include but are notlimited to their size, various compositions incorporated in the wipessuch as scents, lotions, antimicrobial agents, and designs on the wipesto appeal to different users such as fish or animals for thehunter/fisherman, infant designs for caretakers, and floral designs forgeneral use. An antimicrobial sponge may also be provided with the wipesin the container to impede the growth of bacteria or fungus.

Thus, the present invention provides a container for supplying warmwipes which employs a more effective method and system for activatingthe heat source therein, particularly with dry heat oxidation packs. Thecontainer allows air to properly circulate within its chemical heatsource and keep the chemical heat source separate from the wipes to bedispensed. The container is able to initially heat the first wipes to bedispensed by incorporating the heat source in more accessible parts ofthe container.

While the present invention has been particularly described, inconjunction with a specific preferred embodiment, it is evident thatmany alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. It istherefore contemplated that the appended claims will embrace any suchalternatives, modifications and variations as falling within the truescope and spirit of the present invention.

1. An apparatus for supplying warm wipes comprising: a container having a compartment therein for holding a plurality of wipes; and at least one pocket for holding a chemical heat pack therein, the at least one pocket having a first surface in thermal contact with the compartment holding the wipes and a second surface having at least one opening therein in direct contact with the atmospheric air, the at least one opening being of sufficient size to permit atmospheric air to circulate to the chemical heat pack in the pocket and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat pack and warm the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket first surface.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pocket is disposed on an exterior of a side, bottom or top of the container and the pocket first surface comprises a wall between the pocket and the container compartment for holding the wipes and the pocket second surface comprises a wall opposite the first surface.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pocket is disposed on an interior of a side, bottom or top of the container and the pocket first surface comprises a wall between the pocket and the container compartment for holding the wipes and the pocket second surface comprises the side, bottom or top of the container.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pocket includes a slideable tray supported for movement into and out of the container between closed and open positions such that a chemical heat pack may be placed on the tray when the tray is in the open position and the chemical heat pack is positioned inside the pocket after sliding the tray into its closed position.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the container compartment for the wipes is detachably connected to the portion of the apparatus containing the pocket for the chemical heat pack.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one pocket opening is covered with a removable tab for initially sealing the chemical heat pack in substantially an airtight manner in the pocket, the tab being removable from the opening to commencing the exothermic reaction of the chemical heat pack.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the container is a soft, resilient package and the pocket is secured to a top or bottom surface of the soft container.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the container has a lid for dispensing wipes held in the compartment, and the pocket for the chemical heat pack is in the lid.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pocket for the chemical heat pack is on a side or bottom of the container.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pocket for the chemical heat pack is on a top of the container.
 11. A method of supplying warm wipes comprising: providing a container having a compartment therein for holding a plurality of wipes and at least one pocket for holding chemical heat pack therein, the at least one pocket having a first surface in thermal contact with the compartment holding the wipes and a second surface having at least one opening therein in direct contact with the atmospheric air, the at least one opening being of sufficient size to permit atmospheric air to circulate to a chemical pack in the pocket and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat pack and warm the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket first surface; providing a wipes inside the container compartment; providing a chemical heat pack inside the at least one pocket; and exposing the chemical heat pack to atmospheric air through the at least one opening to permit atmospheric air to circulate to the chemical pack in the pocket and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat pack, thereby warming the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket first surface into the compartment for the wipes.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the pocket is disposed on the exterior of a side, bottom or top of the container and the pocket first surface comprises a wall between the pocket and the container compartment for holding the wipes and the pocket second surface comprises a wall opposite the first surface, and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening in the pocket second surface.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the pocket is disposed on the interior of a side, bottom or top of the container and the pocket first surface comprises a wall between the pocket and the container compartment for holding the wipes and the pocket second surface comprises a wall opposite the first surface, and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening in the pocket second surface.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the pocket includes a slideable tray supported for movement into and out of the container between closed and open positions and wherein the chemical heat pack is placed on the tray when the tray is in the open position and the tray is slid into its closed position whereby the chemical heat pack is positioned inside the pocket and the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening.
 15. The method of claim 11 wherein the container compartment for the wipes is detachably connected to the portion of the apparatus containing the pocket for the chemical heat pack and wherein the compartment for the wipes is detached from the apparatus containing the pocket for replacement of the chemical heat pack or for providing additional wipes.
 16. The method of claim 11 wherein the at least one pocket opening is covered with a removable tab for initially sealing a chemical heat pack in substantially an airtight manner in the pocket, the tab being removable from the opening to commencing the exothermic reaction of the chemical heat pack and including removing the tab from the opening to expose the chemical heat pack to the atmospheric air.
 17. The method of claim 11 wherein the container is a soft, resilient package and the pocket is secured to a top or bottom surface of the soft container and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening to permit atmospheric air to circulate to the chemical pack in the pocket and cause an exothermic heat reaction to occur within the chemical heat pack, thereby warming the wipes by transmitting heat through the pocket first surface into the compartment for the wipes.
 18. The method of claim 11 wherein the container has a lid for dispensing wipes held in the compartment, and the pocket for the chemical heat pack is in the lid and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening in the lid.
 19. The method of claim 11 wherein the pocket for the chemical heat pack is on a side or bottom of the container and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening.
 20. The method of claim 11 wherein the pocket for the chemical heat pack is on the top of the container and wherein the chemical heat pack is exposed to the atmospheric air through the at least one opening. 